Resident Evil 2 – The legend reborns

PREVIEW – After E3 we went to a special event in order to play the Resident Evil 2 remake again, this time to complete it, discover some of its secrets and familiarize ourselves with the different weapons with which to dispatch the slow, but dangerous zombies that populate the classic Raccoon City police station. Now, we tell you everything we have discovered.

In the past E3 2018 we could have our first test of fire with the remake of Resident Evil 2, a game that captivated the public and that has won the prize for the best game of E3. It is not for less since the recreation of the classic has been made with an exquisite taste. But as it always happens in the busy fairs and the first tests, it is difficult to see everything that it has to offer, so we have taken the opportunity to play again with the lesson learned (and a couple of extra repetitions) to experiment with the zombies and walk hand in hand the famous Racoon City police station by the hand of Leon S. Kennedy.

The mix of action and terror is well achieved in Resident Evil 2, and all without neglecting the characteristic puzzles, the symbols and other obstacles that always block our way. Thanks to the extra time, we have been able to experiment more with the zombies to know their behaviour perfectly, and that is that the physics of the undead are very special. We can shoot at the head, the body or the extremities and the zombies act accordingly. They crawl to the ground when they lose a leg and continue attacking even without arms. To get rid of them, we used a gun and we also find the shotgun, but we focus on the renewed use of the knife, vital to avoid a bite, although with a certain durability that we explain in detail. There are many changes we have seen in this version with respect to the original, but contrary to what usually happens in these cases, they are appreciated, since they allow you to discover Resident Evil 2 as if it were the first time.

What you should know

Camera in the third person, similar to Resident Evil 4.

Changes in the gameplay and structure of the game, to play with the expectations of the fan.

Although we have only seen Leon’s path, the Leon S. Kennedy / Claire Redfield binomial remains.

The physics of zombies is very successful. Different parts to attack.

The aiming system and the ammunition take us back to the original experience.

The story, the cinematics and the role of the secondary characters are extended.

The same graphics engine as in Resident Evil 7.

Release date

Thanks to the trailer we know that the Resident Evil 2 remake release date is January 25, 2019. That makes it one of the first big things to look forward to in 2018, assuming there will be no delays. That shouldn’t be a problem given the fact that Capcom has already been working on the Resident Evil 2 for around three years and has shipped one game using the RE7 engine this is made with.

Pre-order bonuses

If you want to pre-order Resident Evil 2, there are two option at the moment – the basic game and a Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition option. The base game is just that, while the Deluxe edition has the following extras and DLC included:

Deluxe Weapon: ‘Samurai Edge – Chris Model’

Deluxe Weapon: ‘Samurai Edge – Jill Model’

Deluxe Weapon: ‘Samurai Edge – Albert Model’

Resident Evil 2 Special Theme (PS4)

Leon Costume: ‘Arklay Sheriff’

Leon Costume: ‘Noir’

Claire Costume: ‘Military’

Claire Costume: ‘Noir’

Claire Costume: ‘Elza Walker’

‘Original Ver.’ Soundtrack Swap

Having an ‘Elza Walker’ costume in the Resident Evil 2 pre-order is a quite interesting and nice touch. Eliza was the original second playable character along with Leon in what’s now called Resident Evil 1.5, an earlier cancelled version of Resident Evil 2. That game was almost complete when Capcom cancelled it and went back to the drawing board because the developers weren’t happy with the game. The character of Elza was later reworked into Claire.

Demo

There’s no official word on when a Resident Evil 2 demo might arrive but there’s been talk of one ever since the Resident Evil 7 demo, Beginning Hour, supposedly contained a very obscure clue hinting one might be on the way – while watching one of the in-game videotapes, the number 00551-90009 appeared on screen. The product IDs for the Resident Evil: Director’s Cut that included a Resident Evil 2 demo were SLUS-00551 SLUS-90009 so there have been talks of a Resident Evil 2 remake demo since 2016. It was something that worked well for Resident Evil 7 so you can expect something similar with a Resident Evil 2 demo, possibly even a connected but stand-alone experience like Beginning Hour.

Conclusion

We are very excited about Resident Evil 2. It looks like a game that respects its original version while at the same time it expands that with new things that fit well into the survivor horror genre. We can’t wait to go back to Racoon City in 2019!